<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Style Editor</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<H2>Style Editor</H2><br>
<img src="StyleEditorDialog.jpg" width="404" height="428" border="0" alt="" align="middle">
<h3>The Basics</h3>
<p>Crawly styles control things such as coloring, Crawly length,
Crawly thickness, movement speed, and the secondary rotational speed
of the palette.  The Crawly coloring comes from a palette specified
in the drop-down box at the top.  Each Crawly must have a length,
which is randomly picked from between the Min and Max length parameters.
When animating the Crawly, it will "inch along" at a speed randomly
chosen from between the Min and Max speed parameters.  As the
Crawly moves, it can be configured such that the "head" keeps the
same palette color index, or it can rotate through the palette.
When the Crawly is spawned, it can be configured such that
the head color palette index is randomly chosen or will always
be color index 0.  Lastly, the Crawly color can be rotated
through the palette's secondary color axis at the speed indicated
by the Palette Speed.  For more information on palettes,
please refer to the help for the
<a href="IndexedPaletteDialog.html">Palette Editor</a>.</P>
<h3>The Nitty-Gritty</h3>
<p>Here we will discuss the specifics of each parameter.</p>
<ul><li><b>Palette</b> - This is the palette to use to color the
Crawlies.  Use the drop-down list to select one of
the available palettes, or you can add a new palette by
clicking the "Add" button to the right.  Clicking the "Edit"
button will edit the palette currently selected.  For more
information on palettes and the Palette Editor, please
click <a href="IndexedPaletteDialog.html">here</a>.  For
more suggestions on designing a palette, please see below.</li>
<li><b>Min Crawly Length</b> - This is the minimum allowed
length of the Crawly.  If you wish to use the length of the
palette for the minimum length, check "Use Palette For Min".  If
the length of the Crawly exceeds the length of the palette, the 
palette will wrap around.</li>
<li><b>Use Palette Length For Min</b> - When this is checked,
the Min Crawly Length will be set to the length of the palette.
This happens at render time, so if the palette changes, so
will the minimum length of the Crawly.</li>
<li><b>Max Crawly Length</b> - This is the maximum allowed length
of the Crawly.  If you wish to use the length of the palette for
the maximum length, check "Use Palette For Max".  If the length of
the Crawly exceeds the length of the palette, the palette will wrap
around.</li>
<li><b>Use Palette Length For Max</b> - When this is checked,
the Max Crawly Length will be set to the length of the palette.
This happens at render time, so if the palette changes, so
will the maximum length of the Crawly.</li>
<li><b>Min Crawly Speed</b> - This is the minimum allowed speed
that the Crawly can move at.</li>
<li><b>Max Crawly Speed</b> - This is the maximum allowed speed
that the Crawly can move at.</li>
<li><b>Thickness</b> - This is the thickness of the Crawly.  This will
also effect the length of the crawly.  This is essentially a multiplier
that determines how many pixels each color segment will be.</li>
<li><b>Palette Speed</b> - This is the speed at which the Crawly colors
will rotate through the secondary palette.</li>
<li><b>Head Keeps Constant Color</b> - When this box is checked, the
Crawly's head will maintain the same palette primary-axis index as it
moves, as opposed to rotating through the primary axis.  This will
not affect the rotation through the secondary palette axis.</li>
<li><b>Random Head Color On Spawn</b> - When this box is checked, the
Crawly's head palette primary-axis index will be randomly chosen, as
opposed to always starting out at index 0.</li></ul>
<h3>Palette Considerations</h3>
<p>Palette design is a bit of an artform, but some guidelines
that I stick to are as follows:</p>
<ul><li>Stick to a small number of "key" colors, say 3-5.</li>
<li>Keep a consistent amount of undefined colors between
each "key" color, say 7 or 15.</li>
<li>Utilize color interpolation and color wrapping, especially
with "Head Keeps Constant Color" disabled.</li>
<li>Have fun doing it!</li></ul>
<h3>Where To Look For More Info</h3>
<p>For more help, feel free to visit us at
http://sites.google.com/site/idlescreenproject/, where
you can take advantage of the FAQS, Wiki, and user lists.</p>
<hr>
<a href="index.html">Back To the Main Page</a>
</BODY>
</HTML>